Stories behind famous Paintings Part III

Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom

- Artist: Walter Sickert- Year: 1908

Walter Sickert, noted for his moody portraits and dimly lit domestic interiors, may have harbored a secret darker than his paintings. It has been argued that disconcerting works such as “Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom” and “The Camden Town Murder” may reflect some connection between the artist and the grisly Whitechapel butcher—either as an accomplice or the murderer himself.

Domin // Wikimedia Commons

Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear

- Artist: Vincent van Gogh- Year: 1889

Vincent van Gogh is famous for having severed his own ear; the strained relationship with fellow Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin that precipitated the artist’s self-mutilation is not nearly as well known. Van Gogh spent 1888 working in the South of France and was joined in October of that year by Gauguin. Their friendship deteriorated, and van Gogh didn’t react well to the news of Gauguin’s impending departure. The troubled artist cut off his ear, wrapped in newspaper, and reportedly gave it to a local prostitute for safekeeping. “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” depicts van Gogh in his studio, with the right side of his head wrapped in cloth. In fact, it was a portion of van Gogh’s left ear that was removed, with the inconsistency in the painting arising from the inverted reflection perceived by the artist while gazing in the mirror.

Guernica

- Artist: Pablo Picasso- Year: 1937

An enormous, shifting mass of distorted, agonized figures, Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” was the artist's personal response to the horrific bombing inflicted by the Germans on the tiny Basque town in 1937. Exhibited at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in the same year, the painting was a plea for peace in an age of brutal conflict—both the Spanish Civil War and the dawn of World War II. Picasso expressly forbid the exhibition of his masterwork in Spain until the country became a republic. While his homeland never met that demand, the painting was seen—behind bullet-proof glass—at the Prada in Madrid in 1981, six years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco.

The Scream

- Artist: Edvard Munch- Year: 1893

Popularly known as “The Scream,” Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s expressionist masterpiece is frequently interpreted as a primal response to the excessive pressures of modern life. Originally titled “The Shriek of Nature,” the image was created with an entirely different intent, as related by Munch himself, “One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked.” The iconic painting was stolen from the Oslo National Gallery in 1994; the culprit was apprehended and the painting recovered several months later. Ironically, a 1910 version of “The Scream” was taken in broad daylight from the Munch Museum in 2004. It, too, was eventually recovered despite fears it had been destroyed.

Two Tahitian Women

- Artist: Paul Gauguin- Year: 1899

A leading Post-Impressionist and frenemy of Vincent van Gogh, Gauguin abandoned his wife and children for a hedonistic life in the South Seas. Admired for over a century for his seemingly innocent portraits of Tahitian women, Gaughin was also a syphilitic pedophile who molested countless young girls in his Polynesian pleasure palace dubbed “The House of Orgasm.”

Note from web publisher: It has been argued that works of Art by (now known) pedophiles and deranged child abusers should be erased from the history books. It is also important for future generations of young women to know how to identify and understand these men, in order to make better decisions on how to protect themselves. If you would like to add your organization to support trafficking hotlines. Call or Text 1-888-373-7888   •   Text "BEFREE" or "HELP" to 233733.